Mechanism for crushing cans.



M. B. PIOKETT.

MECHANISM FOR GRUSHING CANS.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.4,190'7.

969,720. Patented Sept. 6,1910.

4 SHEETS-811E111 1.

I mvemon M. B. PIGKETT.

MECHANISM FOR GRUSHING CANS.

APPLICATION FILED BBQ-1.1907.

969,720. Patented Sept. 6,1910.

4 SHEETS-831E171 2.

INV ENTOR $4M WITN ESSES M. B. PICKETT.

MECHANISM FOR GRUSHING CANS.

APPLIOATION FILED DEO.4.1907.

Patented Sept. 6, 1910.

48EEBTB-BHEBT 3.

wri'uassss INVENTOR Patented Sept. 6, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

rlunu M. B. PIGKETT.

MECHANISM FOR GRUSHING CANS.

APPLICATION FILED DEO. 4.1907.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MONTGOMERY B. PICKETT, OF HAYWOOD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB. OF ONE-HALF TOROBERT F. PALMER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MECHANISM FOR CBUSHING CANS.

- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 4, 1907. Serial No. 405,048.

Patented Sept. 6, 1910.

To all whom it may concem:

Be it known that I, MONTGOMERY B. Pronn'r'r, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residin at Maywood, in the county of Cook and tate of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Mechanisms forCrushing ans, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to mechanism for crushing or flattenin tin cans sothat their bulk may be reduce for transportation or storage.

The invention has for its principal objects; the provision of amechanism in which two successive operations may be convenientlyperformed; the provision of a crushing mechanism which may beconveniently applied to a garbage or other wagon and w iich may deriveits power either from the movement of the. vehicle or from the motormeans for the vehicle when the vehicle is not in motion; and theprovision of a power mechanism which will operate without attention ormanipulation other than the supplying of cans thereto.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in theart.

Certain embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein Figure 1 is a transverse section through one form ofmy mechanism, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through a hand-operatedmechanism embod ing certain features of construction found in the poweroperated mechanism of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a transverse section similar tothat of Fig. 1, but

through a modified form of .ap aratus, Fig. 4 is a lan view of certainof the driving connections of the apparatus, which driving connectionsare the same in all of the various forms of apparatus used, Fig. 5 is alongitudinal section throu h still a difierent type of a paratus, Flg. 6is a transverse section tirough the apparatus shown in Fig. 5 on theline VI-VI, Fig. 7 is a detail plan view of the crank device employed inFig. 5, Fig. 8 is an end elevation, partly in section, of a furtherdifferent type of a paratus, and Fig. 9 is a side elevation of tiie typeof a paratus shown in Fig. 8.

In its preferre form, the crushing mechanism is designed to be mountedon a garbage or other similar receiving wagon, and comprises a means forflattening the cans to which the cans are adapted to be fed, whichflattening means is connected so as to be operated either from the motormeans of the vehicle, when a motor vehicle is used and the vehicle isstationary, or from some movin' part of the vehicle when the vehicle iseit er motor driven or not motor driven and is in motion.

Referring first to the general arrangement of the arts as shown in Figs.1 and 4, 1 is the b0 y of the vehicle employed, 2 is the axle of thevehicle upon WlllCh are mounted the rear wheels 3 of the vehicle, 4 isthe axle support throu h which the rotary axle 2 carrying the w eels 3extends, 5 is the cylinder or guide means of the crushing mechanism towhich the cans to be flattened may be fed through the chute 6, 7 is thepiston by means of which the cans fed into the cylinder 5 are crushed, 8is the drive shaft for the piston to which the piston is connected bythe usual crank. mechanism 9 shown in Fig. 1, 10 is the motor which maybe of any desired type, and 11 (Fig. 4) is the counter-shaft from whichthe drive shaft 8 is driven.

Referring now more. particularly to the construction of the crushlngmeans as shown in Fig. 1, it will be noted that the cylinder 5 isprovided with a reversible end 12' ivoted on the rod 13 which rod isprovide with a turning handle 14 and a pair of holding members 15. Theseholding members are adapted to be held in the position shown or inpositions 180 therefrom b means of pins passing through such mem ers andengaging the recesses 16 in the cylinder 5, the upper surface of themember 12 is concave as shown in Fig. 1, while the opposite side isflat. It is designed to give the can first a preliminary flatteningbetween the piston 7 and the concave face of the member 12 whichrecurved face prevents the can from slipping, and then reverse themember 12 and by another 0 eration of the piston completely flatten t ecan. In order to dischar e the cans-after they have been flattene theslots 17 are provided in the side of the cylinder 5 and the piston 7 isloosely mounted so that it ma be tilted sli htly to cause the cans tosli e out throng these of opposing spur wheels 21 and 22, whichareloosely mounted respectively on the axle of the vehicle and upon theshaft 11. The wheel 21 is brought into driving connectlon with the axleof the vehicle by means of the feathered clutch member 23 mounted uponthe axle 2. The gear 22 is brought, into driving connection with theshaft 11, WhlCh gear carries at its end the sprocket 24 by means of theclutch member 25, which clutch memberis feathered upon the shaft 11. The

shaft 8 carries a sprocket wheel 26 and this sprocket is driven from thesprocket 24 on the shaft 11 by means of the cham 27. The clutches 23 and25 are operated by means of the lever 28 carried by the upwardlyprojecting rod 29, which rod has at its upper end in position to beconveniently operated, the handle 30. It will be seen that by thearrangement of clutches the motor of the vehicle may be used either todrive the vehicle or to drive the crushing means when the vehicle isstationary, and if desired the clutch members 23 and 25 might both bethrown into inoperative position. In the latter case the vehicle mightbe propelled in the usual way by the use of horses or mules, and in thiscase if desired, the can crushing means might still be operated by theuse of the connection shown at the right hand side of Fig. 1. Thisconnection includes the sprocket wheel 31 mounted on the end of theshaft 8, the wheel 32 carried by the axle of the vehicle, the chain 33and the clutch member 34 feathered onto the shaft 8. The lever 35 isemployed for operating the clutch member 34. In order to prevent a canfrom being fed through the chute 6 and into the cylinder when the piston7 is in its upper or operative position, the cylinder is provided with adownwardly projecting guard 36 which closes the opening of the chuteinto the cylinder when the piston is in its up er position.

In Fig. 2 a hand operated device is illustrated which hand operateddevice involves one of the features of invention as shown in the form ofapparatus of Fig. 1, in that the upper crushing member 12 is rotatableabout the ball joint 37 so that either the lower concaved face 38 may beused or the upper flat face, which operation corresponds to'that of thedevice of Fig. 1 in which the member 12 may be reversed by rotating itabout its axis. The block 12 is provided face 38 and the member 42 andthen finally crushed between the upper fiat face of the member 12 andthe member 42.

The form of device shown in Fig. 3 is. substantially the same as that ofFigs. 1 and 4 with the exception that the crushing mechanism is slightlyaltered. In this form of device the cylinder 5 is provided with astationary lower end 12 and an opening is provided between the edges ofsuch lower end and the lower edges of the cylinder for the escape of thecans after they have been crushed. The piston 7 is reciprocated byprecisely the same operating mechanism as that shown in Figs. 1 and 4,and is provided with an upwardly pro ecting guard 36 corresponding tothe guard employed in the device of Fig. 1.

In the form of device as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the driving means forthe operating shaft 8 is just the same as that heretofore described forthe forms of devices shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, but the construction ofthe crushing mechanism is considerably modified. In this form of devicethe cylinder 5 is placed horizontall v vertically, and the cans are fedto the top thereof through the chute 6 The end 12 is pivotally'mountedin a manner similar to that shown for the end 12 in Fig.- 1, but iskept" from turning by somewhat different means, such meanscomprising thebar 43 hinged at 44 and provided at its upper end with the handle 45.The bar 43 is held in the position shown in Fig. 5 by means of theinstead of thumb screw 46 which passes through the bar and engages theend of the cylinder in 'the manner shown. The operating shaft 8 isprovided with the crank 9 shown in plan view in Fig. 7, and also carriesan eccentric 47 for operating a means to permit the cans to escape fromthe cylinder after crushing. The means permitting the cans to escapefrom the cylinder comprises a hinge door 48 connected to the eccentricby means of the links 49, 50 and 51 in the manner shown, the parts beingso arranged that the door 48 is opened as the piston of the cylinderrecedes from the crushing operation.

In the form of device ,as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the driving means forthe operating shaft 8* is just the same as that heretofore described forthe forms of devices shown in Figs. 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6, but the crushingmeans is substantially different. The crushing means in this form ofdevice comprise two oppositely arranged series of continuously movingcrusher blocks 52, 53, which approach' each other at their respectivelower on the shaft 60. At the end of the shaft 60 gear wheel 61 isprovided for driving a like gear 62 mounted on the shaft 63 carrying thesprocket 64 which in turn drives the chains upon which are mounted theseries of crusher blocks 53. At the sides of the frame 57 sheet metalguards 64, 65, are provided in order to prevent the cans from fallmgaway from the crushers and, with reference to the guard 64, between thesaid gears. In this form of device the cans are fed into the spacebetween the tops of the moving crushers from the side of the wagon,through one of the branches of the chute 6*, and are discharged at thelower end of the device.

Having thus described and illustrated its use, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is the following 1. A can crushingmeans comprising a pair of relatively movable crushing members, one ofwhich has its opposite faces of different contour and ispivotallymounted to rotate so as to bring either face in position to cooperatewith the face of the other member.

2. In combination in a can crushing machine, a cylinder, a poweroperated piston working in the cylinder, a feed chute, and means forpreventing the feeding of cans from the chute to the cylinder when thepiston is in operative position.

2-3. In combination in a can crushing machine, a cylinder, a poweroperated piston working in the cylinder, a feed chute, and stop means onthe piston for preventing any feed to the cylinder when the piston is inoperative position.

4. In combination in a can crushing machine, a cylinder, a poweroperated piston working in the cylinder, a feed chute leading into theside of the cylinder, and a rearwardly extending guard on the pistonfon:

closing the chute and preventing any feed to the cylinder when thepiston is in operative position.

5. In combination in a can crushing machine, a cylinder having areversible end with surfaces differing in contour, a power operatedpiston working in the cylinder and means whereby cans may be fed intothe side of the cylinder.

6. In combination, a receiving vehicle, a pair of opposing relativelymovable can crushing members mounted thereon and power means from awheel of the vehicle for operating the crushing means.

7. In combination, a receiving vehicle, a

pair of opposing relatively movable can crushing members mountedthereon, power means driven from the wheel of the vehicle for operatingthe crushing means and automatic means for discharging the crushed cansinto the vehicle.

8. In combination, a receiving vehicle, a pair of opposing relativelymovable can crushing members mounted thereon, power means driven fromthe wheel of the vehicle for operating the crushing means, a chute forfeeding the cans between the crushing means and automatic means fordischarging the crushed cans into the vehicle.

9. In combination, a receiving motor vehicle, a pair of opposingrelatively movable can crushing members mounted thereon, and a clutchand driving connections whereby the motor of the vehicle may beconnected either to drive the vehicle or to operate the crushingmembers.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence ofthe two subscribing witnesses.

MONTGOMERY B. PICKETT.

Witnesses:

PAUL CARPENTER, ALFRED Y. ANDREWS.

